Do It For Sovereign!
by MrFredCDobbs
Summary: A darkly comic take on the events of the Mass Effect original trilogy as viewed from the perspective of the reapers.


On a barren planet beyond the fringes of the Milky Way galaxy, Harbinger, the first reaper, lands on the edge of a valley. Gathered in a valley below is the thousand-strong invasion force of the Reapers. Harbinger looks down upon his fellow sentient death machines and begins to speak.

"_Alright, everybody listen up. I know you're all tired from the trip so far but we've got a lot of work ahead of us and we're already way behind schedule with this harvest, so pay attention_," Harbinger began. "_There have been some changes to your usual invasion sectors and I don't want things to be delayed any further because two or more of you clowns accidentally showed up in the same system…_"

A reaper in the front row piped up. "_So, we're really not going to use the Citadel as the launching point for this harvest?_"

"_Correct_," replied Harbinger. "_Whatever the protheans did to the keepers, they screwed them up but good. We have not been able to re-establish a connection. We call & call and they just never pick up. It's like we don't exist to them anymore_."

Groans echoed throughout the valley as the reapers contemplated the additional months of space travel they'd have to make before they could get to the Milky Way. "_I thought Sovereign was going to fix this_," said a reaper in the front row.

"_He tried. It didn't work out,_" Harbinger replied.

"_Well, what happened?_" the reaper asked.

Harbinger sighed. "_I waited on telling you this because I knew it would hit you hard. But, I'm sorry to say, Sovereign didn't make it, boys. The organics got him._"

The reapers let out a collective gasp. Cries of "_How!?_" and "_When?!_" filled the valley. More than a few demanded that Harbinger admit this was a terrible, bad-taste joke.

Harbinger inhaled deeply and started talking. Or would have inhaled if reapers had lungs.

"_When Sovereign learned about the sabotage he decided to the best course of action was to simply storm the Citadel and re-establish control directly. He got some indoctrinated organic agents, had them raise an army of krogans, rachni and geth. Tragically, some of the organics noticed the indoctrinated agents. One particularly persistent organic tracked the agents down and managed to destroy both the rachni and krogan forces,_" Harbinger said.

The reaper commander paused for a second to let that sink in to his colleagues, then continued.

"_I told Sovereign, 'Look, it's fine. We're on our way. Just hold tight.' But you all know what a proud, stubborn bastard he was. He was all, 'No, no. I'll be the vanguard of their destruction. I'll have things set up by the time you get here.' And he went ahead with the Citadel invasion with just the geth army. Honestly, I think he didn't want the embarrassment of having nothing to show for his efforts when you guys finally arrived_.

"_Well, the same damn organic that screwed things up earlier managed to get an alert to the human fleet and they showed up almost immediately. Sovereign was a tough guy but alone against an entire organic armada? He went down swinging at least…_"

The reapers grimly nodded. Or would have nodded if they had chins. An awkward silence briefly filled the valley.

"_Are we at least able to use the Alpha Relay to cut short the rest of the trip?_" asked a voice from the middle row.

Harbinger shook his head.

"_I'm afraid not. It wasn't just that we lost Sovereign. By trying to take the Citadel early, we've lost the element of surprise for this cycle. Now, the organics are reacting slowly and we're using indoctrinated agents to slow things further but we're having trouble regaining lost ground. Some organics noticed that the Alpha Relay was a potential new launching site for the harvest and figured out a way to destroy the relay itself. We managed to indoctrinate the organics planning that and thought that we had nipped this in the bud but another one showed up and managed to complete their initial plan. The upshot being that the Alpha Relay is no longer an option,_" Harbinger said.

The reapers glanced among each other, their cognizance processors straining to incorporate the illogical data that they were being fed.

"_And the really weird part?_" Harbinger continued. "_It was the same damn organic that ruined things for Sovereign. Keep an eye out for this one. Goes by the name of 'Shepard.' I swear, this fucker seems to pop up everywhere…_"

Harbinger paused, then resumed. "_On top of all that, we've lost the prothean husks too. So, we're going to have to start from scratch creating shock troops for this harvest cycle._"

The reapers' mounting frustrations began to boil over. "_What the hell?! We had them holed up in the galactic core!_" a particularly exasperated reaper exclaimed.

Harbinger lowered his head. "_That's on me, boys. After we lost Sovereign, I activated the prothean husks and had them start harvesting the human colonies at the furthest edges of the galaxy. The plan was to have a new reaper built by the time you got there. I thought introducing you to a new brother would soften the blow of losing Sovereign. Making it from just humans seemed like a nice touch since it was humans that took him down._"

"_Unfortunately, the organics noticed the colony abductions, traced the prothean husks to the galactic core and an organic-led squad found a way to use the Omega Four Relay to reach the base. Don't ask me how. It literally never occurred to us to give the base serious defenses. So the organics were able to break into it and set the reactor to overload. We lost everything, including the reaper the husks had been building_," Harbinger said.

In a halting voice, one reaper asked what everyone was thinking. "_The organics that destroyed the prothean husks… was this 'Shepard' among them?_"

Harbinger said nothing.

"_Holy shit…_" the reaper said.

The murmuring continued for a while before another reaper stepped forward and addressed Harbinger. "_Do we at least still have the geth? Or were they all destroyed with Sovereign?_"

"_No and yes,_" Harbinger replied. "_No, we don't have the ones Sovereign used. They were destroyed. But there are other geth in the Perseus Veil system that we might still be able to use. We've reached out to them and think we might get them to accept our offer if their creators launch another attack._"

The reaper that asked about the geth took a step back. "_Hold up for a second… 'If their creators launch another attack?' I don't follow. Are you saying their creators are still alive?_"

"_Yes,_" Harbinger said.

"_But how? The geth didn't destroy them after they rebelled?_" the reaper asked.

"_No,_" Harbinger said.

"_Explain,_" the reaper demanded.

"_According to Sovereign, after the geth rebelled and took control of their creators' home planet, they let the creators go rather than pursue and destroy them. The creators have been galactic vagabonds ever since. The geth had been hiding in the Perseus Veil for about three centuries by the time Sovereign reached out to them. They had had hardly any contact with any organics at all in the previous centuries, in fact,_" Harbinger said.

The reaper's expression turned from bafflement to concern. "_We need to talk about this!_"

Harbinger rolled his central eye. "_Why?_"

"_Why? Why?_" the reaper exclaimed. _"Don't you see?! For millions of years we have kept the harvest cycle going so that the chaos of organic-synthetic strife never happens. So that synthetic life never has a chance to destroy organic life and replace it as they would inevitably do. To keep the balance. And now you are telling us that the first time that a synthetic race has emerged and been allowed free rein for centuries it didn't destroy its creators OR threaten other organic races in all that time?! This raises some serious questions about our mission!_"

Harbinger stepped forward and put a reassuring metal tentacle on his alarmed reaper brother's shoulder. Or would have, if reapers had shoulders.

"_Look, we're all tired from the trip. We're all still reeling from the shock of losing our brother. Things are already FUBAR in this harvest cycle. But would Sovereign want us to fall apart and start questioning the mission now? Would he want us to give up and go home? No, if Sovereign were here now he'd say, 'Buck up, boys. We have a job to do! We're the last line of defense against the chaos! Let's get it done!' So that's what we are going to do!_" Harbinger said.

"_But the geth…_" the reaper began.

"_…Are a fluke. Don't let them become a distraction,_" Harbinger said.

The reaper slumped his shoulders. Or would have, if reapers had shoulders.

"_You're right. I'm sorry,_" he told Harbinger. "_It's just that we work so hard every cycle to preserve the order. To help the organics ascend. To ensure that new organic races flourish. And yet the organics are always so, so… ungrateful. Every cycle, they resist and resist. They act like we're the bad guys. That last cycle with the protheans took three centuries to finish, they were so stubborn. And now we've lost Sovereign and the organics in this cycle are giving every indication of being just as difficult. You just get… tired, you know?_"

Harbinger patted his shoulder. Or would have, if reapers had shoulders.

"_Hey, I've been here from the beginning. I know this better than any of you. But always remember, it's not about us. It's about preserving the galaxy itself. We've prevented the chaos for millions of years. That's our sacred duty. We don't do this for fun. We don't do it to be adored. We do it because if we don't do it, who else will? No one, that's who,_" Harbinger said.

"_So, do it. Do it for Sovereign!_"

The mood of the crowd lightened. Random exclamations of "_Yeah!_" and "_Damn right!_" echoed through the valley.

Harbinger nodded with approval. "_Ok, now everybody pay attention: I'm going to start handing out assignments._"


End file.
